1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a drum type line printer for printing bar codes in a line.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Bar codes are of a variety of types. But each bar code is generally composed of both information bars, which are comprised of a plurality of figures that together indicate a number, and control bars, including start and end code bars. The control bars are typically arranged at the both ends of the information bars.
When those grouped information bars and the respective control bars in a line are to be printed by a drum type line printer, according to the prior art, they are struck by printing hammers, which are independent of one another. As a result, the same number of printing hammers is required as the sum of the numbers of the information bars and the control bars.
Often each of the control bars has a fixed content irrespective of the varying contents of the grouped information bars in the various lines on the drum.